error of keeping their women at so low a was organized in 1841, it was estimated level; and in many homes fathers and that the island contained about two hunbrothers are secretly teaching the females dred and thirty thousand children, two of their families." Captain Lister, inspec- thousand of whom were found in existing tor of the Deccan division, says: The government schools. The Commission prejudices against female education are consisted of nine members. Five were fast disappearing, and there will soon be government officials, and the rest were no more difficulty found in establishing an Episcopal clergyman, a Presbyterian female schools than in those for boys." minister, a Romish priest, and a missionBut Mr. Woodrow gives it as his opinion, ary from one of the five Protestant Societhat the encouragement of government ties having establishments in the colony. will be necessary, "as the people are op- Of this body, the Bishop of Colombo, posed to the elevation of females from Dr. Chapman, was for some time presi their present degraded position." Our dent; an office which he suddenly reimpressions coïncide with the testimony signed, because the governor appointed a of the last witness; and we fear that na- Wesleyan missionary to the post of Head tive prejudices are not vanishing quite so Master of the Colombo Central School. fast as Captain Lister's language would The Commission had to grope its way, for lead us to suppose. In certain schools, this painful reason, that it was blind to established by the natives themselves, the real wants of the country. The fifth there have been difficulties regarding in- clause of its constitution restricts its laspection, etc. The founders of one school bors to "the education in the English at Agra had, from the first, "a strong language of their fellow-subjects of all reaversion to any male person, even though ligious opinions in the colony;" and in he be a Brahmin, inspecting" their insti- the seventh clause it is declared, that tution. At a later period they refused to "the general education of the whole popuadmit "any female" who might be de-lation is the duty of the Commission." puted for that purpose; and although they furnished the pundit with a list of the pupils, they expressly stipulated that it should not be submitted to govern ment. The countenance and aid, and, we will add, the forbearance of government, "active measures" by the department, and the hearty cooperation of other officials, will long be necessary to foster this cause. Gopal Sing expresses his sense of great obligation to the Collector of Agra, Mr. Drummond; and justly observes, that it can not but be evident to every one that the assistance of such persons is invaluable." 66 Strange as it may sound, it is nevertheless literally true, that the Governor of Ceylon proposed, and the Secretary for the Colonies approved, a scheme by which the soft and mellifluous vernaculars were to be virtually suppressed, and the whole population to be educated, if educated by the government at all, in the English language! We have given dates, which obviates the necessity of giving names. After the experience of four years, the Commission discovered that it was necessary to make arrangements to supply the elementary schools with the means of giving instruction in the vernacular, so as to afford the necessary preAs to Ceylon, it is important to bear in paration for English education." Then mind one fact. "India's utmost isle" has arose a Normal Training School, at the always been under the rule of the Colonial head of which was placed one of the Office. This fact is the key to the pre- most industrious, tenacious, and successful sent prosperous condition of that magnifi- teachers that ever graced the Commiscent dependency. Its institutions, the sion's staff, Dr. Andrew Kessen. In this comparatively enlightened condition of institution were to be trained vernacular its population, and its material prosperity, teachers, "for those villages where there are all rendered intelligible by this one is, as yet, no demand for English." Faithfact. Ceylon has enjoyed an advantage ful to the constitution, the Commission rewhich India never possessed-the direct solved to make these vernacular schools and continuous influence of the Christian" essentially subsidiary to the English opinion of England; and this difference between the two countries affords the true explanation of almost every other. When the Central School Commission schools." Before the present School Commission was constituted, the Bible was in regular use in all the government schools, and in 1841 the governor was in a position to say: "Whatever may have been the defects of the late Commission, it will be found that in their schools the Scriptures are read without objection by all and the all included Buddhists, Hindus, and Mohammedans. The schools of the Commission entirely failed in Jaffna. The teachers could not hold their ground against the missionary establishments of the American, Wesleyan, and Church of England societies. In 1843 the Secretary of the Commission sought the counsel of the missionaries, and, after some correspondence, the government schools were abandoned, and the sum of five hundred pounds voted for distribution among the three missions above named. The education of the population of the peninsula was left in the hands of the missionaries: no restrictions of any kind were imposed. Subsequently, the Romanists received a grant. In 1855 the deputation from the American Board visited Ceylon. "Our Prudential Committee," said they, "have a decided objection to receiving government grants for mission schools, whether from our own or from foreign governments;" and the grants, which had been received for ten years, were thenceforward declined.* The Wesleyans, who are troubled by no such scruples, have had their grant increased to two hundred and fifty pounds per annum. It may strike our readers that less than seven hundred girls, out of a population of a million and three quarters, are not a large number to have in the public schools. But the explanation to be of fered is, that the operations of the Commission have been very feebly conducted as a whole; for its female schools have been quite as successful as any of its institutions. The several Protestant Missionary Societies, both in India and Ceylon, have long directed their attention to this matter of female education; and the wives of many missionaries have labored in the cause with singular devotion, satisfied with the approval of Him "who seeth in secret." Boarding schools have been much more successful than day-schools; and, under the present circumstances of India, and probably for a long time to come, experienced missionaries will con tinue to prefer those schools into which girls are received at a tender age, where they have the advantage of a thorough Christian training, and from which they are not generally dismissed until their marriage. As far as possible all such schools should be of an industrial character. Mrs. Caldwell taught the first pu pils of her boarding-school at Edeyenkoody to make lace; lace-making has now become a flourishing branch of manufacture, and a source of considerable profit to the school. The Tinnevelly lace has an excellent sale; the girls in the school and the Christian women who have married from it can not make it fast enough to supply the demand. This, therefore, is a becoming and remunerative employ ment, exactly suited to the habits and capabilities of Hindu women. In Madras and Ceylon, Mrs. Roberts, Miss Agnew, and other ladies, have successfully introduced crochet work, shirt-making, etc., into the boarding - schools under their care. For the pieces of crochet work, in particular, there is a great demand; and many of them are equal in point of execution to any thing of the kind we have ever seen. We remember a visit which the late Sir Henry Ward, then Governor of Ceylon, paid to the American boardingschool at Jaffna. Two large antimacassars, in which were delicately worked figures of her majesty and the prince consort caught the eye of the governor. Sir Henry Ward was the most loyal of men. "Let me have them," said he, "and I will send them to the queen!" His excellency paid the price, and carried them off. Such an incident would touch the queen's womanly heart. And we are certain that it can not be otherwise than gratifying to our transatlantic cousins to know that there hangs on some royal couch or chair at Buckingham Palace, Windsor, or Balmoral, a graceful fabric wrought by the fingers of Hindu girls trained in a school of the American Board.* This cause of female education took root in a most unpromising soil, and has pros ceived the intelligence of the death of Sir Henry *Whilst engaged in writing these lines, we reWard. He was a very eminent man. His successful administration in Ceylon was fitly recognized by his promotion to the wider sphere of Madras. His talents were equal to any position. He wrote and spoke like a statesman, and, in developing the reThe Baptists, though diligent educators, have sources of Ceylon, worked like a horse-to the ut ever refused government assistance. most of his strength. pered in spite of much discouragement. | founded on broadly catholic principles, At first the parents objected that it was has nobly fulfilled its mission, having sent "not the custom" to teach the girls to out ninety female teachers since 1834. read; that it was not respectable; ("Do you want our daughters to be like dancing girls?") and that it was unnecessary. "Can not a woman cook rice"-the whole duty of woman in their estimation"without learning to read and write ?" These stereotyped objections were urged by the early converts as well as by heathens; and both parties were surprised that reasons so entirely satisfactory to themselves did not satisfy the missionaries. The first girls that were received into the Jaffna schools were bribed by presents, and retained under instruction by the promise of a dowry. This dowry, about four pounds sterling, the Americans gave for years to every girl who married from the school with their approbation. In the day-schools it was long the custom to give lunch daily-rice cakes or fruit-and a few yards of calico at Christmas. But the three missions in North Ceylon have entirely discontinued presents of every kind in the boarding-schools; and in the dayschools, where lunch is given at all, it is restricted to those children who come from a distance, and who, if allowed to go home at mid-day, would not return for needlework in the afternoon. Not only are those boarding-schools full of girls, but the girls come from a much higher grade than that from which the first pupils were drawn; and the kutcherry clerk, the well to-do farmer, the thriving tradesman, and, of course, the educated native preacher, each in his turn, comes to the lady in charge in search of a wife. And Hindu parents, quick enough in appreciating the social advantages of a respectable marriage, now earnestly seek education for their daughters, and are well content to commit them to the absolute guardianship of the missionary and his wife. "I give this child to you, she is no longer mine, you are her father and mother." More than this: those parents are now paying a proportion of the cost of the education and maintenance of their girls. The Americans, since the visit of their deputation in 1855, have discontinued the practice of requiring payment; but in the Church of England and Wesleyan schools the practice is still maintained. The Established and Free Churches of Scotland, too, have their ladies' societies, their orphanages and day-schools for females; and their agents in the East have been a race of singularly zealous and able men-we might add, and of women; for Mrs. Wilson of Bombay was worthy of association with John Anderson of Madras and Dr. Duff of Calcutta. To the "Ladies' Committee" we give a cordial and respectful welcome. This youngest sister of the societies was organized about two years ago, and is connected with the Wesleyan Missionary Society. The ladies who led the movement which issued in the formation of this committee, have long been engaged in promoting female education in the East; and they bring to the new society the experience of many years, and the obvious advantage of a wide range of missionary friendships and correspondence. The name of one lady, the wife of the Senior Secretary of Wesleyan Missions, is held in warmest remembrance in India; and in the palm groves of Ceylon nestle beautiful schoolhouses erected by contributions called forth by her ever-active pen. This "Ladies' Committee," having for its object the systematic direction of the power of a great community like the Methodists, will doubtless secure for itself the cordial sympathy of all ladies within the pale of its own Church, and the best wishes of all the friends of India beyond. The efforts of the Society for Promoting Female Education in the East are entitled to grateful recognition. This society, There is one fact which we venture to put before that committee, because of its bearing on the future prospects of the women of India. It is of startling import; but it indicates a want which it lies within the scope of the Ladies' Committee to supply to the extent of its means. Female teachers who devote their attention to boarding and day-schools meet the case in part only. What is to become of those very few girls who pass through the dayschools? Before they reach a certain age, say ten or eleven, they are removed from the school, and secluded, by inexorable custom, for life. Unless Christian women can be found to follow them into their forced retirement, they will never receive another Christian lesson. Preaching never reaches them; no woman is ever seen listening to a sermon in the bazaar, or under the shade of the village tree; no heathen woman ever appears within the walls of a Christian temple; and they are virtually inaccessible to missionary teaching in their own homes. We boldly assert-and let the statement be pondered by those whom it may concern-that heathen girls who have left the day-schools, and girls who have never been to any school whatever, in short, the adult female population of India, do not, under the present system, ever hear the Gospel at all! We hear much, now-a-days, of woman's mission; and if we are not greatly mistaken, we have here stumbled upon a most important part of it. Let English ladies haste to the rescue." Let English ladies of social position and education devote themselves to the work of teaching, from house to house, their adult Hindu sisters, who are literally perishing for lack of knowledge, none caring for their souls.* *The Zenana Schools of Bengal have yielded encouraging results. Intelligent Baboos have admitted governesses to teach their wives and daughters, and also paid for their services. That venerable mission ary, Lacroix, just before his death, wrote to Dr. Duff: "For a long time to come, I feel assured, the best way (because most in accordance with the feelings of the people) to promote female education in India, will be through means of domestic instruction." The Rev. John Fordyce, speaking of these Zenana Schools, observes: "If the Lord be pleased to raise up agents to carry out this plan on a large scale, it will go far to unlock many a prison home, and to solve one of the most perplexing of missionary problems." * In some quarters this suggestion will be denounced as Utopian: we do not care to reply to such an objection. Where, out of a female population of upwards of seventy millions, there are but twenty thousand under instruction, and most of those are withdrawn from school before they have reached their teens, we are not to be told that the only earthly means by which the case of those women can be met are impracticable and Utopian. We would ask Miss Marsh, Mrs. Wightman, and Mrs. Bayley, to show us their opinion. Free from the anxious cares of domestic life" the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord"—a female member of the mission family on each central station would have the protection and comforts of a home; as the colleague of the missionary's wife, she would have a ready passport to the homes or harems of the daughters of India; welcomed as an angel visitor, she would sit among her darker sisters, and teach them the story of the cross. We can not doubt that many a Christian woman will rise from the perusal of these pages with a very thoughtful heart, and we venture to hope that at no distant day some sister of mercy, "fired with a zeal peculiar," will inaugurate a new era in the evangelization of the East. *If the population be taken at two hundred millions, of course the number of women would be considerably more than we have stated. RATHER TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING.-M. de Sevastianoff, who has passed three years at Mount Athos, engaged in photographing the curiosities of art preserved there, has just returned with no less than four thousand five hundred designs, representing views of all the convents, with their curious and interesting architectural features; manuscripts of the greatest antiquity, paintings produced many centuries ago, all have been copied with the most scrupulous fidelity. He has reproduced entire MS. Bibles, page by page, with all their naive illuminations; complete plans of churches, from original designs by unknown artists; geographical maps, which date from the earliest Christian times. There are also collections of splendid initial letters taken from antique manuscripts, church ornaments of various epochs. THE London Dispatch says there are more British admirals than ships, more generals than regiments, more captains of artillery and engineers than guns. Louis Napoleon is charged by the same authority with an increasing annual expenditure of seventy millions of dollars per annum, and an annual increase of the public debt of fifty millions of dollars. NOTHING is really troublesome that we do willingly. PORTRAIT AND SKETCH OF HENRY CLAY. it was soon seen, not only possessed great [MANY readers of the ECLECTIC, we are quite sure, will welcome the tri-portrait engraving of the three eminent men whose life-like lineaments adorn our present number. We are aware that many other portraits of these distinguished men have been published and are extant. But as they were cotemporaries and prominent actors together on the great theater of public life in our national affairs, it seems quite fitting to place their portraits to gether in one view on the plate. The resemblance to their originals will be His political career was now fairly be found very accurate. We had the honor gun, and for nearly fifty years his life of knowing them personally, and have so may be said to have been devoted to the often seen them that their portraits seem service of his country. His first election almost life-like. The figure of the chair to Congress was in 1806, but it was only in which Mr. Clay appears to be sitting is for the remaining portion of a term; and a photograph of the one in which he sat in 1807 he was again elected to the Genwhen his portrait was taken. Mr. Sar-eral Assembly of Kentucky, of which he tain, the ECLECTIC artist, was familiar with the faces of the originals, and his engraving of the portraits can hardly fail, we think, of proving highly satisfactory to all their numerous friends and survivors. A brief biographical sketch will add interest to the portraits.] was chosen speaker; an office he held till he was in 1809 elected for an unexpired term of two years to the Senate of the United States. In 1811 he was sent as a Representative to Congress, and on tho meeting of the House of Representatives he received the very remarkable honor of being elected speaker, though he was now HENRY CLAY was born in Hanover for the first time a member of the house. County, Virginia, April 12, 1777. He was But his speeches in the senate, and his the seventh son of a clergyman who died conduct as speaker of the Kentucky Aswhen Henry was very young, leaving his sembly, had established his reputation; widow and family but scantily provided and so well satisfied were the members for. Having received a common-school with their choice, that he was five times education, Henry obtained a situation as reëlected speaker. During this period copying clerk in the chancery court of he took a prominent part in the great Richmond. Here he probably received a questions of the day, but especially discertain amount of initiation in legal pro tinguished himself by his earnest denunciceedings, so that, although he was nine- ation of the English claims to right of teen years of age when he formally com- search and other maritime prerogatives; menced the study of the law, he was when and as he was one of the prime instigators only twenty admitted to practice at the to the war with England, so during its bar. The tide of migration was then continuance he remained one of its strongsetting strongly westward, and the youngest advocates. He was in 1814 appointed, advocate thought that the fertile valleys of the West offered for him also a promising field of labor. He accordingly removed to Lexington, Kentucky, and there, in October, 1799, he fairly commenced his legal career. As an advocate he quickly achieved a marked success. Young Clay, avowedly in consequence of the leading part he had taken in the discussion on the war, one of the commissioners to negotiate the treaty of peace; and for him is claimed the credit of having by his adroitness obtained for America some advantageous concessions. In France he was |